Saturday, October 31, 2015

Happy Halloween,
everybody! I don’t usually post random bits of poetry, but I recently wrote
this and had to share it with you. It’s a riddle poem, so feel free to comment
with your speculations of what the poem is about. The answer will be revealed
Nov. 1. No cheating for those who’ve already heard it. Have a fantastic Saturday!

Freak

That’s what they call me.

That’s what I am. Freak of nature. Hours.

I spent hours working on it. I dove into the wind, freefalling

until I grabbed the first green mile marker, drawing my experiences along,

toiling, spinning, clawing. Isn’t it beautiful? The way silver catches the morning dew

and skewers it on a string? Perhaps you mayn’t consider my art so fine, for dragons and monarchs both have succumbed to mummification at the work of eight appendages,

but bloodsuckers and creeps have met their doom at my work. Judge for yourself:

be you a victim, slapped in the face by my toils or an admirer from afar.

Either way, the silver is short lived, wrenched apart

in the wind, and tomorrow,

I’ll build another.

***

Update *contains spoilers*:
This poem is about both a spider and a writer.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Everybody has introductory questions
they hate. You know the ones: in college it's “What’s your major?” and for nomads
it’s “Where are you from?” The same goes for writers, though annoyance is not
limited to first-time conversations. Below are some sure questions and
statements to irritate your writer friends/acquaintances:

“What’s
your story about?”

This is one of my pet peeves. It’s almost like the
equivalent of asking somebody what his/her life is about. How do you put all
that in one or two sentences? Writers (at least writers like myself) are
generally thinkers and may require time to think over an answer like this. So
don’t be surprised if I give out two completely different answers for the same
story on the spot to two different people. Unless you are an editor/agent/publisher,
please don’t ask this question.

“Oh!
So it’s like [insert TV show/movie here]?”

If this is a follow up to question 1, the writer is likely irritated
already. This question just makes it worse. As a writer, I already tend to over
criticize and compare my half-finished work to something well-edited and
successful. The above comment might not only make such a comparison but implies
plagiarism on the writer’s part. (See The Greatest Literary Thieves.)

Alternate questions: “Where do you get your
inspiration from?” Inspiration doesn’t imply that the writer is a plagiarizer.

“You
should do [insert plot element] next!”

Are you the writer of this story?
No? Then feel free to write your own story.! While writers enjoy honest feedback, they
don’t want people telling them how to write their book. Of course, writer’s
still enjoy brainstorming plot elements. If they ask to brainstorm, you can
throw in some ideas, but other times writers need to talk at you. If an idea
isn’t plausible, let him/her know, but usually writers stumble upon epiphanies
even if it sounds like utter nonsense to you.

Alternate
phrases: “What do you think of [insert plot element]?” If the writer
responds negatively, drop the subject.

“I’m
writing a story about [insert complete synopsis].”

This
one is tricky. It’s not that writers don’t want to hear about your story, but
if you just met, or if the conversation just started, this might not be the
time to add this. A general tip: don’t smother the writer, especially if the
writer is an introvert. This might be the first time in who-knows-how-long
she/he is talking aloud. Allow him/her to voice his or her thoughts.

If a writer asks you about your story, take it as compliment.
Writers can make some of the best listeners. This isn’t to say that the writer
should dominate the conversation. This principle of listening goes both ways.

Remember:
Listen as much as you speak.

“Would
you consider writing my life story?”

Not always phrased like this, but it’s pretty close. If a
writer specializes in young adult fiction or poetry, they might not be
interested. Just as there are different types of sports, there are different
styles of writing. Writers may not specialize in all of them.

Alternate questions: “Do you enjoy/would you consider
writing nonfiction?” If the answer is “yes,” you might consider building up to
the main question.

“What
do you mean you’re rewriting your book?”

This question implies that writers should always get it
correct the first time and if they don’t, they’ve failed. This is simply not
true! Writers may go through several drafts before they get it right, much less
the way they like it.

Remember: Every writer is different. Some may work at
a different pace or with a different system than others.Even every story is different. The same
writer may come out with several drafts for one story, but get another nearly correct
the first time.

“Writing
doesn’t pay.”

Correction: writing doesn’t pay well. But it can pay. And
it’s not about the money. It’s about the expression through words and
imagination.

Alternative phrases: “You must be a brave soul.”
Okay, now I’m getting a little dramatic, but you get the picture. If you want a
writer as a friend, don’t poke him/her in the eye.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Some of you might be wondering what a bunch of cupcakes has
to do with books. First of all, I’ve been craving chocolate lately, and you may
notice some of those little beauties have chocolate icing. (You can have the
cupcake. I’ll take the icing. Now we’re both happy!) Secondly, both chocolates
and books are delights of mine.

So, if cheap plots can be compared with potato chips, what
about comparing good books to mouth-watering chocolate? The more chocolate, the
merrier. Right? Or so people say. Is there really such a thing as not enough
chocolate? Even for the greatest of chocolate lovers, like myself, tubs of
ice-cream with five different flavors of chocolate can be overwhelming.

What about reading? Is there ever such a thing as too many
books? Many books worms would laugh and say “No!” Really? That’s just how the
chocolate lovers responded.

This summer I finished reading Anne of Green Gables for the first time, and one thing I found
surprising was some of the talk about books. Both Anne and her best friend
Diana enjoy reading fiction, much like myself, but Marilla (the woman who
adopts Anne) and Mrs. Barry (Diana’s mother) believe both the girls read too
much. In fact, in several instances the girls are discouraged from
reading so much because it might ruin their eyes or detract from their ability
to socialize.

Sound like something familiar today? The first thing that
came to my mind is technology. Perhaps one of the main concerns of parents (or
siblings) today is that children spend more time watching TV or playing video
games than they do playing outside, hanging out with friends, or reading a good
book. After reading Anne of Green Gables,
it was surprising to think that parents may have seen fiction in the same
destructive manner!

Of course, this book has to be considered in its own
cultural context, way before the time of technologies we have today. But
perhaps there has always been something throughout the centuries that detracted
from socialization, exercise, or chores. In Anne’s time it was books, later it
was the radio, then television, and today it’s video games and the internet.
Who knows what it will be in the future.

But the question remains: are books still a distraction
today? Perhaps they aren’t a major concern like different forms of technology
because many children and adults don’t read. Yet that doesn’t mean that an
abundance of books can’t hinder avid readers. While reading can provide a
welcome escape, it can, at times, serve as a hindrance just like technology if
readers aren’t careful.

After our most recent move, my sister was sitting around
reading in a social situation when everybody else was greeting each other. I
poked her and told her to come say hello to people. One guy behind me remarked,
“Yeah, don’t let her do anything intellectual like read!” I actually fully
support my sister’s reading, for it’s been a long struggle to encourage her to
do so! But this man didn’t realize this was the way she avoided people. We’d
just moved to a strange, new place. How could I expect her to socialize with
complete strangers when I was the introvert and her the extrovert? When I had
read to avoid people countless times before?

Yes, books can be a distraction. Sometimes there’s a fine
line between reading as an enjoyable, intellectual activity to an antisocial,
withdrawn one. It’s important for readers to recognize this line and know when
to put the book down. After all, even Anne and Diana ended up good friends, and
Anne came to be at the top of her class.

While it’s not a bad idea to pick up a
book, don’t abandon the opportunity to make a friend. After all, other readers
can engage in excellent bookish discussions. Like how there are too many books
in the world for a person to possibly hope to read. It’s not that readers can
never have enough books. It’s that readers can never have enough time.

How many books are on your shelf? Do they ever serve as a
distraction? Bonus question: What’s your favorite type of chocolate? Go!

I had the privilege of meeting Chris T. Acadian in my
creative writing class at Evangel University. Acadian spoke to our class and
first proposed the potential of the fourth dimension, a topic that has baffled
yet fascinated me from a young age, especially when connected with another book
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions.
But that’s a book for another time. Then Acadian introduced The Shifter and blatantly told the class
we would not like the main character, Faedra Madison Mae. My original thought
on that: “Challenge accepted!”

This fall, I dove into The
Shifter, determined to enjoy reading about this protagonist. Three chapters
in, I discovered Acadian was right. I didn’t like Faedra. She is arrogant and
dislikes nearly every other character in the story. But, hard as it may seem, I
found myself relating with her in so many ways, especially concerning her
awkward nature around other people and the way she rarely voices her feelings.
Ultimately, though an unlikeable protagonist, Faedra remains a character of
strong convictions, making her admirable in other ways and contrasting her
faults.

The story starts out in a seemingly ordinary way, filled
with the everyday life of Faedra attending school. But the Institute for Dimensional
Studies is not just any school, and Faedra isn’t your typical three-dimensional
being. She’s a shifter with fourth-dimensional capabilities, and the story soon
becomes about anything but ordinary life, with hints of super-human
abilities. While the plot builds up to encounters with other shifters, the book
never loses its touch of ordinary life with its supporting characters.

At first, Acadian’s writing style was a little jarring. The
story is written in first person, past tense (not unusual if you ask me), but
there were very few of Faedra’s actual thoughts. She saw things and reacted. Life
seemed to merely happen to her. The descriptions were rather minimal, and
Faedra acted far more than she thought, even when she was alone. But, as the
story progressed, Faedra spent less time letting life happen and more time
doing something about it. Even Acadian’s writing style plays in with one of the
novel’s major themes that one of the characters, Nic, mentions:

“I don’t care what bubble of self-pity you’ve lived in until
now. I’m not going to let you be a little baby any longer…take my advice as you
will. But life doesn’t happen to you;
it happens because of you. Stop being
so helpless and make your life happen.”

I gave The Shifter
4/5 stars for its slower place and seemingly confusing climax. There was a lot
of build up throughout the story, but very little is actually resolved. Nonetheless,
I enjoyed the story more and more as it progressed.
My only complaint? When will there be a book two? Chris T. Acadian, you can’t
end it there! In other words, I look forward to the sequel. I’d recommend this
book for anybody interested in the possibilities of the fourth dimension or
even a good book with human characters and adventures.